The Log Blog by Appalachian Log Structures

This step can take some time to complete and will take some patience. There are several items that most financial institutions require you provide when you apply for your loan. Listed below are just a few:

Last 3-4 years of tax returns and/or W-2’s

Last 3-4 pay stubs

Your address for the last 2+ years

Current statements from checking, savings, portfolios, etc

Employment addres for last 2 years

Copy of deed/title to the land you are building on or being purchased.

Set of floor plans and builder contracts/estimates

There is a lot more information that will be requested before the loan is closed so be prepared to keep digging through your files and have patience. Our Log Home Sales Consultants assist folks everyday who are going through this process, and believe me, you are not the only ones who feel like they are going through the hoops as this process takes place.

At some point in the application process an appraisal will be ordered for your log cabin home building project. The appraiser will take your log home floor plans along with the contractors contract/estimates and will determine a value of your home setting on the lot you have chosen. This value will become part of the basis for the amount of funds the lending institution will loan towards your log cabin home. Once this amount is determined, the draw schedule can be completed, papers can be signed and you can begin building your dream log home.

Assuming that you have progressed through the first 5 steps in the Successful Planning series you have now completed your research, set a realistic budget, know where you are going to build your log cabin home, sketched some log home floor plan ideas on paper and are within the building/move in timeline you have set for yourself, it's now time to have your preferred log home manufacturer start drawing your dream log home design. Whether it is a floor plan that the log home manufacturer already has pre-designed, there are some slight modifications you want made to that plan or if you have your own custom log home design, gather your ideas, sketches and other information and get with your Log Home Consultant to get underway.

For folks wanting one of our pre-designed plans we offer a Study Set of plans that will help you gather building costs and/or provide to your lending institution for appraisal purposes. For those wanting to modify a pre-designed plan or customize their own plan we have a Preliminary Plan option that provides the same type of information as the Study Set of plans include. Contact your local Log Home Consultant for more information and pricing on the Preliminary Plan option.

Over the year's we have found that those homeowners who start working on their log home floor plans early are the most confident and well prepared when construction actually begins. You should be very relaxed and not rushed through this step as it is your dream log cabin home. Both your log home manufacturer and your Log Home Consultant are very interested in assisting you through this process.

For a home with its heritage in the past, today’s log homes are light years away from the rustic one room log cabin of Abe Lincoln’s era. The antiquated vision of the 1800s log cabin reflected the hardships of life on the North American frontier. Today this vision has been replaced with modern log homes that are architecturally aesthetic, energy efficient, and provide all the conveniences that are available in other types of housing. Log homes represent a lifestyle that reflects warmth,comfort, security, relaxation, family, and the love of nature. Log home enthusiasts come from all walks of life, but share a common attraction to these enduring attributes. With a variety of log profiles, corners styles, and log home floor plans, and packaging, building a log home to meet your needs is easier today than ever before.

To celebrate our nation’s love affair with log homes, July 2011 is being heralded as National Log Cabin Month by Log Home Living and County’s Best Cabins magazines. Appalachian Log Structures is joining the celebration to honor the vital role that log cabins have played in American history by offering a promotion to all log home enthusiasts. We invite you to visit our website atwww.applog.comto learn more. Feel free to contact one of our log home consultantsto help guide you thru the process of owning your own part of this great American tradition.